Sample scripts provided with these products allow the user to be up and
running immediately. More importantly, these products surface their devices
as ActiveX objects, which can be controlled not only by scripting languages
(like VBScript or JavaScript), but also from programming languages like
Visual Basic or (my personal favorite) Delphi. They can even be controlled
from Microsoft Word or Excel!

The general process is as follows:

Preparation:

The user assembles a list of sky positions that he/she wants to check for
asteroids. The telescope is set up normally, aligned, and synchronized in
the normal fashion. The ccd imager is installed and focused in the same
general portion of the sky that the user wants to image.

Imaging Run:

The user runs the script included with Astronomer's Control Panel (ACP)
or runs a custom program to read the list of objects and steer the telescope
to the first object. (From this point on, the operation is completely "hands
off").

The ccd imager is directed to take a short image (perhaps 30 seconds). The
resulting plate is solved by PinPoint, yielding the precise coordinates of
the image; the telescope position is updated (synchronized) to this new
position. The telescope is then micro-slewed to the precise desired
coordinates, if necessary.

The ccd imager is directed to take one or more images of normal exposure
length; the length of the exposure is primarily determined by the precision
of the telescope's tracking capability. Some mounts will only track well
enough to image for 60 seconds; some will track adequately for four minutes
or more. We suggest the use of a compressor/field flattener for the following
reasons:

Note: The ccd imager will also take dark frames as specified by the user.
Key Point: it is NOT necessary to subtract dark frames before processing
images with the PinPoint Astrometry Engine; it works very well on raw images,
saving considerable time and trouble.

The telescope is then directed to slew to the next object in the list,
where the pointing/positioning/imaging cycle is repeated, until all of the
objects in the list have been imaged once.

The telescope is then directed to return to the first object in the list
and take a second set of images.

The telescope is then directed to return to the first object in the list
and take a third set of images.

The imaging run is then completed; the telescope is parked and the imager
is automatically shut down.

Identifying asteroids:

Once the images are captured, the plates are solved by PinPoint to add
World Coordinate System information, which identifies the precise centerpoint
of the image, the plate scale in arc-seconds per pixel, and the mag zero
point, making the images suitable for direct astrometric purposes.

Sets of three images taken of the same region of the sky are then processed
to identify asteroids. PinPoint performs this formerly-onerous task quickly
and efficiently, even generating a report for submission to the Minor Planet
Center. Although the default settings will work very well for most situations,
the user has complete control over all settings.

PPAstro:

Although PinPoint includes a script which will solve sets of three plates
to identify asteroids, I have provided an application that will facilitate
the process.

The following screen shot shows PPAstro,
a Windows application written in Borland Delphi that uses the PinPoint
Astrometry Engine to solve FITS images and to identify asteroids:

PPAstro runs under Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP and essentially encapsulates the
functionality of the sample scripts provided with PinPoint while providing
a convenient user interface with extensive error trapping. PinPoint is a
native 32-bit Windows application, and it is quite fast.

PPAstro also provides easy access to the wide variety of settings over which
the user has control if he or she wants to deviate from the default settings.